Monday, August 25, 2008

Kenyans are outraged by a proposal to pay hefty salaries to the wives of the prime minister and vice-president.

A leaked document says the head of civil service Francis Muthaura has directed that they each be paid $6,000 (£3,000) every month.

But MPs have vowed to shoot down the proposal in parliament, saying it is too expensive for the economy.

Kenyan tax-payers are already paying heavily for the cabinet - the largest ever - with more than 40 ministers.

A government memo leaked to the local media directs that Ida Odinga and Pauline Musyoka, wives of the prime minister and vice-president respectively, will be rewarded for their roles as hostesses.

The pay is also supposed to recognise their role for upholding national family values.

'Over-burdened'

But Eugene Wamalwa, an MP and brother for former Vice-President Micheal Kijana Wamalwa, says the tax-payer is already over-burdened and the allowances are uncalled for.

"The prime minister and vice-president attract one of the highest salaries in the world and that will be sufficient for couples," Mr Wamalwa said.

And former head of the Kenyan chapter of Transparency International Gladwell Otieno said the move is a confirmation that Kenyan politicians are just a greedy caste, looking after themselves at the expense of poor Kenyans recovering from the effects of post-election violence.

The two women will join First Lady Lucy Kibaki, whose allowances increased last year to nearly $8,000 a month.

President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga agreed to share power in February after negotiations led by former UN head Kofi Annan to end weeks of violent clashes.

Some 1,500 people died and 600,000 left homeless around the country after last December's disputed elections.

Sunday, August 24, 2008

People who fall for so-called "Nigerian scams" aren't victims at all—in fact, they're greedy and should be jailed, according to Nigerian high commissioner Sunday Olu Agbi. He said today that Nigeria has gained a bad reputation because of the scams perpetrated by a minuscule number of people, and that those who find themselves involved with the scams are equally as guilty as those running them.

"The Nigerian Government frowns very seriously on these scams... and every day tries to track down those who are involved," Olu Agbi told the Sydney Morning Herald in response to a previous article on Australians falling for Nigerian scams. "People who send their money are as guilty as those who are asking them to send the money."

Out of the 140 million people in Nigeria, Olu Agbi said that fewer than 0.1 percent were involved in Nigerian scams. The scams, also referred to as 419 scams or advance-fee fraud, predate the Internet, but have exploded in recent years thanks to the proliferation of e-mail and instant money transfers. Although the scams can take on many forms—from payments for products sold on eBay or Craigslist, to deposits on houses and purchases of plane tickets for "true love" on the other side of the ocean—they all follow the same general theme.

Scammers send huge checks to unsuspecting victims with some story attached to explain the overpayment, and the victim is expected to wire back the difference immediately. Eventually when the checks are deposited, they bounce and the victim is out a lot of money. Sometimes, victims are tricked into thinking they'll eventually be paid back and continue to participate in this endless cycle of sending money, especially if the scammer is wooing them romantically (which happens more commonly than one might think, to both men and women).

Although this kind of fraud originates from all over the world, it seems to have an unusually high concentration in Africa and, specifically, Nigeria. This has, unsurprisingly, cast Nigeria in a negative light. Olu Agbi said that Nigeria's reputation for being involved with the scams has even hurt the country's ability to land business deals. "[T]hose who want to transact business with us are always very suspicious," he told the newspaper.

Still, Olu Agbi's "blame the victim" mentality won't help Nigeria win any friends, but education on how to spot 419 scams and avoid falling for them can certainly go a long way in curbing their growth. After all, once victims stop blindly forking over cash, scammers will have to figure out some other way to make money.

Saturday, August 23, 2008

...don't weep for me...just a couple of goals away from a lucrative shoe contract. The Nigerian team played, they were a bit off of their usual game, there is no point in coulda, shoulda, woulda. I know a lot of couch coaches have stacks of notes to give to the players and coaching staff but such is life, particularly in sports.

I hope all the athletes have a hearty welcome upon returning to their home countries.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Oya O!!! It's on like popcorn. At midnight...Naija vs. Argentina, last chance for Nigeria to repeat what they did in Olympic 1996 in Atlanta. I've already started discussions with a major athletic shoe company...Naija wins we're gonna be launching the green white green soccer cleats.I can't watch the game...too much anxiety mehn!From day one I've been positioning myself to ride this gold wave yo...

Monday, August 18, 2008

Before you read this article and start thinking "this is how I would be living if I was back home in my country"...keep things in perspective. This is like giving an account of the night life in Hollywood, Beverly Hills or the Hamptons.

Interesting account of what's going on in this very expensive African city.Reader discretion advised.

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Friday, August 15, 2008

As I predicted in my earlier posting, Tirunesh of Ethopia has won a gold medal for the 10,000 meters race.

BEIJING (Reuters) - Ethiopia's world champion Tirunesh Dibaba won the first track gold medal of the Beijing Olympics in the women's 10,000 metres final on Friday.

From when the 23-year-old hit the front with 300 metres to go, her victory was never in doubt and she crossed the line in 29 minutes 54.66 seconds, an Olympic record.

Ethiopian-born Elvan Abeylegesse, who had led for much of the latter part of the race, ran home in second to claim a first Olympic medal in athletics for a Turkish woman in 29.56.34. American Shalane Flanagan took bronze in 30.22.22.

Dibaba and Abeylegesse were only the second and third women to run under 30 minutes for the 10,000 after Chinese world record holder Wang Junxia, who set her mark in Beijing in 1993.)

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

BEIJING (Reuters) - Nigeria reached the Olympic quarter-finals with a controversial 2-1 win over the United States on Wednesday and fellow Africans Ivory Coast and Cameroon also qualified.

Ivory Coast went through when Salomon Kalou gave them a 1-0 win over Australia and a 0-0 draw with Italy was enough for Cameroon.

Brazil and Argentina, who like Italy had qualified already, completed the group stage with 100 percent records by beating hosts China and Serbia respectively.

Thiago Neves scored twice in four minutes in the second half for Brazil after Diego had given them the lead in the 18th minute in Brazil's 3-0 win.

An Ezequiel Lavezzi penalty and free kick from Diego Buonanotte, the smallest player in the tournament at 1.60 metres, gave Argentina a 2-0 win over Serbia, whose goalkeeper Vladimir Stojkovic saved an Angel Di Maria penalty.

Belgium and their neighbours the Netherlands took the other two places with 1-0 wins over New Zealand and Japan respectively.

Nigeria's match swung their way in the third minute when U.S. defender Michael Orozco was sent off for elbowing Solomon Okoronkwo, who tumbled over despite only minimal contact.

Already struggling with the stifling humidity, the U.S. went behind when Chinedu Obasi skipped down the left and laid the ball off for Promise Isaac to score in the 39th minute.

Substitute Victor Obinna fired in the second in the 79th minute before the U.S., needing a draw to go through, came to life.

Sacha Kljestan pulled one back with a penalty before Charlie Davies headed against the crossbar, then had another effort saved by Ambruse Vanzekin

Friday, August 08, 2008

I heard the Olympic opening ceremony were fantastic. If your country could only partake in a handful of events...you'll always have the opening ceremonyBEIJING - AUGUST 08: Jangy Addy of Liberia carries his country's flag during the Opening Ceremony for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics at the National Stadium on August 8, 2008 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images)

Thursday, August 07, 2008

Let's not deceive ourselves, we already know either the Kenyan or Ethiopian athletes are gonna get all the gold medals for long distance running.

Now for Soccer...It remains to be seen, but African nations should be poised to grab at least one medal. Nigeria usually makes a good run at it. Ghana represented in one Olympic in the past. Can they duplicate and/or even improve on that success?

Now the real koko of the whole Olympic events, swimming. Everybody is focused on USA's Phelps. Aight we give them the men's category, but as far as the women's own O...Toyin Tomato is a shoe in for the gold.

The Olympics kicks off tomorrow...stay tuned, we've been promised a lot of drama

Wednesday, August 06, 2008

Ok...ok...don't ask how I came across this web site. The mainstream media would have you believe everyone is either starving or battling HIV/AIDS in Africa. Well, some guys must have access to prime steak abi na eba?

I'm no finance guru, and if there are any readers that are please chime in, but here is some information you might be interested in.

Nigeria to auction $341M in treasury bills

LAGOS (Reuters) - Nigeria will auction 40.11 billion naira in 91-day and 182-day treasury bills on Wednesday to tame money supply, the central bank said on Tuesday.The bank said it will issue 5.11 billion naira in 91-day bills and 35 billion naira in the 182-day paper, using the Dutch Auction System.The results of the auction will be announced on Thursday, the regulator said.The auction is one of the measures the central bank employs to control money supply, curb inflationary growth and help retail banks manage their liquidity.

Source: Reuters

What nation's flag are these African children displaying in the picture below?

Sunday, August 03, 2008

Joshua Clottey, of Ghana, celebrates his newly acquired IBF welterweight championship. Clottey, who tore his bicep in the early rounds, hung on to defeat Zab Judah by unanimous decision Saturday night at the Palms. The fight was stopped in the ninth round because of a large cut over Judah’s right eye.